Like A Dream
by CrimsonCobwebs
Summary: Finished! Where has everyone in Garden gone? Is Selphie alone? Why does she get the feeling that something's wrong…? PLEASE REVIEW! Warning: blood, gore, and occasional swearing
1. Observed

_This is my first horror and I was inspired to write this after watching Battle Royale. I just wanted to write something a bit different to the usual FF8 stuff Please review it! It's gets more gory as the chapters progress..._

**Chapter one - Observed**

She had dreamt beforehand.

It had been a stupid dream full of disjointed images fluttering like wings of a butterfly in her mind: an empty purse, a wine glass filling with blood, her enlarged shadow desperately trying to embrace her, an unfamiliar house drifting away in the distance.

I suppose then she thought it was meaningless. But all dreams have a meaning, and that dream wasn't so much an expression of hidden emotions but a warning. Some would say a vision. You see; dreams are messages sent to us by our subconscious mind while our conscious mind sleeps. These messages take form in a variety of surreal symbols, peculiar images and unfamiliar or familiar surroundings. We witness our true feelings, we open doors that we try desperately to close while we are awake.

If only Selphie had seen the meaning – no – warning, behind hers. Though, I wonder, even if she had told people, who would've believed her? I know I wouldn't of. It's so easy to overlook the fragile memories of our sleep.

Besides, if anyone had listened to her, would they of been able to prevent the catastrophe to occur? Who knows. The only thing I know is what _did_ happen…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As soon as Selphie Tilmitt woke from her slumber she knew something was wrong, something was different. The feeling was so intense that it made her feel queasy; it made her stomach turn and twist and she thought she was going to be sick. Every fibre in her body quavered with a semi-conscious knowledge that something wasn't quite right. She clutched the sheets on her bed and stared with bulging eyes around the room, half expecting some sort of demon to be leering back with a heinous smile full of yellow teeth.

And it was while she was scouting her dormitory for inexistent monsters that she suddenly remembered her dream. She recalled it as any dreamer would, all the images and scenes veiled in mist: unclear and unorganised, senseless and surreal, just out of grasp and focus, the symbols becoming manipulated by the conscious mind. These random images disturbed her slightly, as most dream-like images do; yet it held a strange comfort for the girl. She came to the conclusion that her fear was due to the dream; something that accompanies a dreamer after they've awoken. Perhaps it was nothing after all.

_I'm being foolish. There's nothing wrong. Everything's fine. Everything's normal. I'll go outside and there'll be another day of Garden to complete. My friends will be waiting for me. There's absolutely, completely, totally nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all, there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong nothing wrong there's nothing wrong there'snothingwrongnothingwrong_…

She jumped when she saw it. It had blended in quite well and it surprised her more that she'd even noticed it, a tiny grey smudge against the cream coloured walls, a red light shining in its corner.

Selphie got out of bed and approached the blinking camera cautiously. How long had it been there? Why hadn't she noticed it before? Why…why was it _watching_ her?

The brunette stood on her tiptoes and tapped it with her finger, her nail making a soft clicking sound as it met the glass. She studied it for some time while her distorted, black reflection studied her back from the confines of the tiny lens. She decided that it definitely wasn't here before she'd gone to bed and she put her hands on her slender hips, shaking her head.

'If this is some kinda sick joke,' she announced to the camera, 'then it's not funny.'

She looked around her private room expectantly. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and icy fingers ran down her spine. She was frozen to the spot with an unexplained fear and she wanted to close her eyes and wake up but just stood there instead as a thought wormed its way into her head.

_Someone's listening to you. Someone's _watching_ you…_

She tried to make sense of the camera and sighed but it came out in a strangled sob. She tapped it once more and found her hand shaking uncontrollably.

_Cool it, Selphie. It's just a joke. Probably Irvine wanting to see me undress or something; don't know why I'm getting so worked up over nothing._ She laughed nervously to herself. It was horribly loud in her empty room and she silenced herself quickly. _Nothing's wrong, you hear me?_

'Nothing's wrong!'

_THEN WHY AM I SO DAMN SCARED?_

With a controlled precision she began to dress and wash. She did it all slowly, knowing that if she hurried she would lose her concentration and rationality and the panic would take over to _get the hell out of this room._

When she had donned her navy school attire she took several deep breaths trying to calm her and rid the dark thoughts that had suddenly clouded her vision like a storm gathering beneath a lapis sky.

She shivered, shaking off the suspicious thoughts that whispered ominously in her mind. She grabbed her bag and reached the door in four strides, failing to notice the other five cameras watching her from various places.

There were three things that the bubbly brunette noticed as she stood in the hallway outside her dormitory. The first thing was that the nagging feeling that _something was wrong_ burned in her mind stronger now, incessant and unnerving. The second thing was that it was dead silent, an obtrusive silence; one of the loudest noises that she had ever heard. But it was the third that worried her immensely; it made her fear spit and claw inside her stomach like an angry cat: the Garden was motionless. It wasn't drifting on the sea. It wasn't hovering above the ground. The engines weren't even running!

_At least that explains why it's so quiet,_ Selphie reasoned with herself, longing for the soothing drone of the Garden's mechanics.

_Something's wrong._

Selphie hopped nervously from foot to foot looking left and right as if crossing a busy street, but abruptly stopped when the eerie tap-tap-tap of her echo answered her. She considered removing her boots so they wouldn't make a noise but laughed inwardly at such a bizarre thought.

_Right. Enough is enough. Time to get to class! I'm probably just late that's all, that's why nobody's_

_(in the Garden)_

_out in the hallway. See? I'm feeling better already. Nothing like good old reasoning, hey Selph? I'm so paranoid! Yep, I'll just get to class and everything will be normal and good._

After making a mental note to kill Irvine for putting the camera up in her room, she skipped off down the corridor, thinking how stupid she had been.

_I mean there's probably a logical explanation for why the Garden isn't running. Maybe it's out of power…or broke down…or something. Well, anyway I'll find out after class. Which reminds me, I have to –_

Something's wrong.

The green-eyed girl had entered the main circular hall. The silence hit her first; it was like hitting a brick wall. It hung heavily in the air, thick and intoxicating, completely unnatural, and Selphie found herself drowning in it, struggling through the infinite layers that were suspended around her. She hadn't expected this. She had expected at least _a few_ students wandering around.Her surroundings were completely deserted.

The young SeeD felt so small and vulnerable amid the hall that domed out above her and the walkways that stretched around her like pointing fingers. Suddenly Balamb Garden, which she had begun to call her home, felt dreadfully unfamiliar. And although she seemed to be alone…she felt like she wasn't.

_There's someone watching…_

'H-hello?' The silence shivered around her, irked at being stirred from its peaceful solitude. 'Anybody…here?'

No response.

Selphie licked her dry lips and begged to be woken from the nightmare. She pinched her china-white skin until crescent shaped slivers of blood quivered on its surface. Was she really here alone? What in Hyne was going on?

_All right, all right, Selphie. Think. Think. I can't possibly be alone here. Where should I go? The infirmary! If something has happened_

_(something really really bad has happened)_

_Doctor Kadowaki would know!_

Selphie gingerly moved down the walkway with a nervous swiftness that kept her from breaking into a run. Her heart was thundering in her chest, her leaf-green eyes shifted this way and that; she balled her fists and clutched them against her chest in a physiological attempt to protect herself. True, she was in a state of terror that could not be matched – until later. Even after, she could not decide what was more terrifying: not knowing what had happened or knowing what had happened.

Sudden flashes would catch her eye as she near-jogged round the circular walkway to the infirmary, though she wasn't sure what it was. All she knew is that it made her twice as scared and suspicious, increasing her speed and longing to reach the medical centre.

The entrance to the doctor's working home slid aside with an automatic shush and she was greeted with an empty room. She stepped nervously into the infirmary, which looked the same as when she last saw it; Doctor Kadowaki's files were still in a neat pile on her desk, the computer was switched off, the air smelt of disinfectant and the curtain was blowing in a lazy breeze emitting from outside the open window. Still, that odd silence drifted lazily in the air.

Selphie swallowed nervously.

Something's wrong.

'Um… Doctor Kadowaki?' she called, lingering hesitantly by the door. 'Are you here? I-it's me…Selphie Tilmitt. Are you-'

'Selphie? S-Selphie… is that you?'

Selphie let out a startled cry and jumped back, making the door operate, causing her leap forward again in surprise. From her new position she could see a girl from her class curled up in a ball beneath the doctors desk. The girl stared up at her with brown eyes as large and as scared as a rabbits. Selphie kneeled down to her level.

'Moeru… is that you? What are you doing?'

Moeru leaped out from beneath the desk and captured the SeeD in a firm embrace.

'Selphie! It's really you! I'm so glad I'm not alone anymore!'

So this is real…

Selphie pushed her fellow SeeD away and asked, 'Moeru, tell me, what is going on here?'

The raven-haired girl tugged at one of her two plaits and gaped for a moment at the brunette. She shook her head. 'Oh Selphie. I don't know! I woke up this morning and – and everyone was gone! Garden wasn't moving and I thought we'd crashed and then I came here looking for the doctor but – but then I saw…'

She pointed to the table opposite them. Selphie turned and her heart leapt to her mouth. An injection needle lay there covered in blood.

_Something's_

Selphie recoiled in horror as she registered just how much blood there was. There was a puddle on the table and it was dripping onto the floor in thick, slurping globules, staining the white tiled floor and forming another puddle.

_Wrong_

Her voice had prickles, and those prickles became lodged in her throat preventing speech. Goosebumps raised their backs all over her body and she felt the blood drain from her face and a cold sweat form on her brow. She tried to swallow but found that her mouth was completely dry.

'I – I don't know what happened,' she heard Moeru say as if from a distance. 'I saw it when I came in b-but there's n-no body or anything…'

Selphie finally turned back to her. 'Have you seen anyone else?'

Moeru shook her head violently and added, 'I can't find my weapon either. I've looked everywhere. There's… there's not _a-any_ type of weaponry about!'

'Is that why you were hiding?'

'Yes…but, I was also hiding from that.'

Selphie followed where she was looking and couldn't believe what she was seeing.

'Another one…'

The camera watched them incessantly, observing their every move, its red light blinking methodically. Selphie felt a shiver run up her spine and down again. _What is this?_

'There are loads of them,' Moeru added, her voice quavered as she pointed to three more cameras, each with their little grey bodies turned to look at the girls kneeling on the floor. Selphie felt sick again.

'W-we have to find out…what's going o-on. Come on, we have to find the others.'

'B-but what if there aren't any others?' Moeru objected, her voice cracking with fear. 'Can't we wait here until someone finds us? They'll come wont they?'

Selphie gave her a sharp look. _But what will we do if the person that used the needle comes first?_ 'There will be others. Squall must be here somewhere. He'll know what to do.'

She stood up on unsteady legs and reached down for her friend's hand, trying to avoid looking – or thinking – about the blood soaked needle on the table just a few feet from where she stood. She didn't want to know at the moment why it was there and why there was so much blood; she wanted to find Irvine and Rinoa, Zell and Quistis and Squall, Hyne, she wanted to find everyone! There had to be a logical explanation for what was going on.

Moeru kept a firm grasp of Selphie's hand as they exited the infirmary. Selphie's heart was pounding and she cursed the clop-clop their shoes made against the floor.

As they made their way around the walkway Selphie's mind involuntarily slipped back to the blood soaked needle on the infirmary table. The needle had been used as a weapon; she was sure of it, and she feared for her boyfriend's safety and that of her friends. She felt helpless, a boat being carelessly tossed by a stormy sea. She wanted Irvine with her, wanted to see him smile his charming, lop-sided grin and tell her it would be okay. But by now she knew that it wasn't okay and if she wanted Irvine with her she'd have to be strong and find out _what the hell is going on?_

The pair was outside the elevator now, on their way to Cid's office and it was as Selphie pressed the button to open the doors that she saw it: a flash of black against a watery background; out of place yet well known. Selphie's heart leapt and she forgot about the approaching elevator and sprinted down the steps, hand in hand with Moeru, calling after him frantically.

'Squall! Squall!'

But as she circled around the side of the central structure he was gone. She was disappointed but unperturbed and after hesitating for just a second to recover her bearings, resumed sprinting after him in the only place she thought he would have gone.

_He couldn't of gone far in such a short space of time. He must be in the nearest place, which is the library. I'm so sure it's Squall, he'll know what's going on._

Selphie dragged Moeru behind her and hurtled through the library doors expecting to see Squall standing before her, arms crossed, pensive expression and moody frown etched into his features. But it wasn't Squall.

It was just horrific.


	2. For The Illiterate

_Hahaha…. so many questions to be answered! Maybe they'll be answered in this chapter…maybe they wont. You'll have to keep reading wont you? R&R pretty please._

Chapter 2

For the illiterate

_Something…is…wrong…_

Three girls and two boys; their mangled bodies sprawled about the library floor, limbs mutated and bent at unreachable angles. Blood was splattered up the rows of bookshelves; one had fallen backwards, a boy's body laying face down upon the shelves. Books littered the room resembling a flock of birds that had just been shot down from flight. The former SeeD's faces were twisted in anguish, distorted in anger, their eyes glassy and staring.

One boy had a dagger lodged in his forehead, the other male had an axe protruding from his back, his jacket dark with blood which spilt over the books beneath him, staining their pages and making them illegible. Two girls had been shot repeatedly in the face and chest; one was without her left eye, the bone shattered and gleaming dully in the light. The third female was without a head; hacked off by the axe.

Selphie fell to her knees; the carpet beneath her was spongy with blood and made a squelch as she touched it. The smell clung to her nostrils relentlessly and she couldn't stop staring at them, she had known them, they had been her friends, but now their eyes were wide with anger and shock, their bodies bedded in a pool of their own blood-

Selphie vomited repeatedly. She couldn't help it. And when she was finished it wasn't enough and she shoved her fingers down her throat and was sick again and again and again until her throat burned and her breath was sour and all that came up was black bile.

But, Hyne, she was SeeD! She was trained for this: the deaths of comrades and friends, the sight of blood and hideous mutations from battle but this… this…

_This is indescribable. _

For a moment she was sure she would not be able to move again, sure that she could not continue. It wasn't possible. Selphie felt the queer sensation of being in a dream, witnessing everything from behind a sheet of glass, oddly detached from the situation. Everything seemed to drift before her eyes and the sound of Moeru sobbing and shrieking behind her came as an echo would: the parody of a voice, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once, eerie and unreal. But another sound joined Moeru's cries, and it was that sound that broke the glass that shielded Selphie from the horror.

She stood up and tried to regain some self-control. She looked for the source of the sound, almost inaudible but clear nonetheless. She freed her senses and listened more intently. It was coming from the library checkout counter. The brunette cautiously took a few steps towards the desk and she heard the sobbing louder than before. She quietly placed her hands on the mahogany surface and leaned over.

It was the girl with the pigtail that stared back at her. They were both frozen like that for sometime, staring intently at each other, judging each other, surveying each other until the librarian spoke.

'I didn't do anything! I swear! I swear! It wasn't me but I… I couldn't do anything! That's why I hid! Don't accuse me, okay? I didn't know… I did – I did-' Her voice, so angry at first, broke down into a series of frightened sobs. She hid her tear-streaked face between her knees, wrapping her arms around her body as she muttered: 'they watched the whole time. Those bastards. I saw them. They followed every movement, they did!'

Selphie swallowed. 'Who… _Who_ watched?'

The SeeD pointed sharply at a camera that was surveying them, it's red light blinking, blinking, the lens staring directly at them.

'Do you know who put them there?' Selphie asked, hopping over the counter. _Please, please know something._

The girl looked at Selphie with misty eyes. 'No. I have no idea.' She sniffed and wiped her wrist across her eyes. 'I woke up and…' she shrugged. 'I came here, looking for…well, anyone. And they were here. My friends. We waited for people to come and find us and… a-and someone did…'

Moeru had joined Selphie and the librarian behind the counter, her arms locked around Selphie's left one, her eyes darting nervously at the circuit of camera's that were monitoring them, their red eyes flashing.

'That-that girl… the new one; Natala, she came with all these weapons,' the librarian continued. 'She just strolled into the library and said she knew exactly what was going on. Selphie, she wasn't…normal. I should've known that something was wrong.'

_Something was wrong_

'But I didn't think. I…I was panicking inside, we all were. She had weapons and I was thankful but before we could take them from her she began laughing and began shooting and I ran and hid and hid and hid and I could hear them moaning and – '

'All right! All right, Aya that's enough! Please? I don't want to hear anymore!' Moeru begged through cracked sobs.

'But you didn't hear! You didn't hear the gunshots, Natala's crazed laughter,' Aya grabbed the girl's arm and Moeru's grip around Selphie's arm tightened. 'Something's wrong and I don't think we're going to live long enough to find out.'

Selphie's mind was grinding on sluggishly. She tried to put events in order, tried to put pieces of the puzzle together but the end result was pictures of her fellow students, mangled, bloody, dead. There was only one thing she was sure about: her original task. Find Squall and the others.

_At least now I'm sure that there are more_

_(dead)_

_people in the Garden. I have to find Irvine and others. At least as a large group we might be able to find a way out of this situation. _

'Listen, it's not going to do us any good staying here. We should go and look for other…survivors. Then maybe – '

'Nuh-uh. No way,' Aya objected immediately. 'I am not going out there with that lunatic roaming around with a machine gun and Hyne knows what else. I'm staying here.'

Selphie stood up, grimacing as she saw the dead SeeDs again. Moeru stood beside her and buried her face in Selphie's shoulder to stop herself from looking at the bodies. Selphie didn't say a word as she stepped over the confines of the counter and walked over to her deceased friends. Moeru let go of her arm.

The brunette picked her way through the gaps between their broken arms and legs, stepping in puddles of blood, red as the juice from a berry. She clambered clumsily over the fallen bookshelf to the boy on his front, the axe rearing its wooden body from his back.

'Selphie! What a-are you doing?' she heard Moeru hiss at her from behind the counter.

_Okay Selphie you can do this. You can do this. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it do it do it doitdoitdoitdoit _

Selphie gripped the axe handle with both hands and put her boot of the soft back of the former SeeD and pulled. The axe came loose with a horrific cracking sound that made Selphie grit her teeth and feel weak all over. A wave of dizziness passed before her and she tripped backwards over the shelves, falling onto the floor. She opening her eyes and saw the single eye of the dead girl staring accusingly at her. Selphie screamed and scrambled to feet, stumbling over another body and treading on the arm of a boy, making a sickening snap as the bone broke.

Free from the entanglement of dead bodies Selphie collapsed to her knees, axe still in hand and gagged, staring with disgust at her uniform, at the patches of red blood smeared across the front, and then at the gore covered axe in her hands.

_Now,_ she thought, I_ have a weapon._

Moeru and Aya watched her wide-eyed along with the numerous cameras' that had silently adjusted their positions with the sudden explosion of movements made. Moeru let out a startled cry and leaped over the counter toward Selphie. Aya approached more hesitantly, keeping her distance from the armed girl, her demeanour both threatening and nervous like a cornered animal.

'It's okay,' Selphie spluttered, her heart hammering madly in her chest as she watched the blood ooze off of the axe's blade, falling with a quiet splat onto the floor. Selphie thought she had gone slightly mad as she repressed the odd urge to laugh.

'I want to find the others,' Moeru said, nodding feverently, brown eyes downcast. 'I don't want to stay here anymore, Selphie, please?'

Selphie felt the hard press of the axe against the small of her back, tasted the air; so full of blood and death and wondered how this had all occurred. Just yesterday she had been here, checking out a book to study, cheerfully waving goodbye to Aya. Now the brown-haired girl studied her with an apprehensive suspicion that unnerved Selphie, and made her shift nervously from foot to foot.

Selphie watched the girl opposite turn her stony gaze to the bodies of her friends, no doubt the gunshots and their cries of pain still ringing in her ears, Aya hastily announced: 'I'm coming with you.'

As they left, Selphie felt a strange sense of guilt accompany her for leaving her friends' bodies there; cold and uncared for, feared rather than mourned, still laying in a sea blood; their souls trapped within bodies; lonely and crying.

_Why? Why is this happening? Wha-what am I meant to do now? Where – where do I go?_

_Have to find Irvine. Have to find out what's wrong. Cid. Will find Cid._

They entered the main hall cautiously; the last thing Selphie wanted was to run straight into the murderer of those Seeds. She had no inkling for what was going on but she at least wanted to live to find out, which years of experience would aid her in doing. It was pointless trying to keep a low profile in such an empty place where their footsteps could be heard from the other side of the Garden. Their only defence was speed and senses.

They kept their eyes open for any person, be they friend or foe, though Selphie wasn't completely sure who was friend and who was foe. Her mind was theatre of twisted thoughts and images, taunting her, whispering to her in the hollows of her mind where she was most vulnerable. These thoughts distorted her true outlook on her surroundings and her eyes began to play tricks on her. Was that a flash of yellow? Did something move to her right? Could she hear footsteps? _No. No I can't. Keep focused. Or you wont live to see Irvine again, got it?_

Moeru possessed amazing stealth and speed (though Selphie guessed it was due to her fear) and was quickly looking at the face of elevator, frantically pressing the button to summon it. Aya meticulously surveyed the area, her muscles visibly tense and ready for attack though Selphie wondered what action she would take if they were attacked, obviously she hadn't handled the surprise slaughter in the library very well.

_Why is the elevator taking so long? Wait… Before we went to the library didn't it come down? That means… if it's taking so long it must have gone to another level. Someone else used it while we were with Aya._

The elevator doors slid open and the empty cubicle waited patiently for them to enter. They piled in, anxious to be away from open space, away from prying eyes. Or so Selphie thought.

'Oohh, even in _here_?'

Selphie turned and saw Aya staring with a flare in her eye at a camera; it's one eye watching them with a channelled intensity that couldn't be matched. Even in a tiny space like this someone was surveying them. What exactly were they watching for? And who were _they_?

'Selphie, smash it with the axe,' Moeru said, nervously hiding behind Aya who was glaring defiantly at the tiny machine.

But Selphie could hear it now, the smash, and the tinkle of glass that tumbled to the floor. She could see the naked body of it, it's wires poking out like veins, it's one eye shattered and broken on the floor. There was something about doing that that just didn't feel right. But why? Why would something like that be so important?

'Selphie,' Moeru persisted, her eyes burning like the sun, 'I don't like it. I don't like it watching us!'

The elevator hummed around them, the movement made her feel insecure. The camera made her feel even worse, being so close to one made her shiver and the axe burned against her back. But there was just _something wro_ –

_Ding_

The elevator stopped. But…they weren't on the third floor, where Cid's office was. They were on the second floor. Selphie hammered on the button but the elevator obstinately refused to budge and continue its ascent. _Second floor it is then_.

As the doors hissed open she glanced at the camera, straining its little body around to follow their movements, as if it were a living creature, fascinated by what they were, where they were going, what they were doing. Yet it wasn't the camera that was fascinated: it was the person behind the camera, the sick bastard sitting safely away from the people and places, monitoring them and staring with eyes alight with glee and twisted interest at the suffering students. That's how Selphie imagined it anyway.

The corridor was empty, as she had expected, and they appeared to be alone. But Selphie saw clearly the one eye staring through her, heard the crisp crunch of the arm breaking beneath her foot, smelt the coppery smell of blood in her nostrils and wouldn't take any chances. So with those thoughts in her head she drew her axe and gripped the hard surface between hands. The handle was sticky with blood and she knew that when she pulled them away her palms would be smudged with the dark, congealing liquid. That thought made her feel slightly light headed and she thought she would have to sit down: until she heard the sudden hiss of a door nearby.

Selphie motioned for Moeru and Aya to stay motionless, edging to the right until she felt the cool press of the wall against her back. Slowly and silently she crept along it and peered around the corner to the corridor beyond. Empty.

Selphie adjusted her grip on the axe and hopped across to the adjacent classroom, being careful not to set the doors off and revealing her presence. Never taking her eyes off the door, she positioned herself so that she had her back against the wall to the right of the classroom and listened. She did what she had been taught and tried to detach and identify one noise from another. This wasn't hard as the Garden was insanely silent, and now she could hear everything. Her blood pumped noisily in her ears, she could hear the rapid breaths of Aya and Moeru, waiting anxiously for her return around the corner, she heard the steady hum of the fluorescent lights above her, and most importantly, she could identify muffled footsteps coming from within. There was someone just inches from her waiting form inside the classroom.

Selphie closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, concentrate on her attack plan. An axe wasn't the best of weapons when confronted with a gun. She would have to rely on surprise and hopefully get as close to the killer as she could. But would she kill the person? Shouldn't she question her first? But surely, if she was that dangerous and becoming a mindless killer, she should be exterminated before any more harm could be done?

The SeeD decided that it would be best to try and get into a position where the murderer could only be threatened and intimidated into talking. Selphie quickly prepared herself mentally.

_I have to be quick and ready for anything that bitch pulls. I have to get there first, possibly try to disarm her. I can do this. I know I can. Surprise is-_

The door flew aside and the classroom inhabitant was upon her, taking Selphie completely by surprise. The axe flew from her grasp and she was tackled to the floor before she could defend herself or even cry out. She struggled to grasp an advantage as she felt the attacker wrestle with her arms and pin them to the tiled floor that was harsh and cold against her milk-white skin. Selphie kicked and arched her back, trying to free her legs now as the killer pressed her legs down with their sheer body weight. Their face was so close to hers she could feel their hot breath against her cheek and hear them desperately panting in the effort to restrain her.

But then, amidst the confusion, she caught a flash of blonde hair. She strained to keep her eyes open under the pain that was spreading through her legs and saw a dark tattoo dance before her. Light dawned.

'Zell!' she screeched, 'Zell! Zell! Stop! Ah!'

Her attacker ceased suddenly and pushed himself up away from her so that there was space between their faces. She saw clearly now the face of martial artist, his blues wide with shock and sparking with adrenalin. His tattoo decorated his left cheek, which were flushed with his sudden effort of trying to pin a fully trained SeeD to the ground.

Zell leaped off her as quickly as he had leapt upon her and hurriedly offered a hand down to the brunette.

'Selphie, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't know it was you…' he laughed suddenly: 'I'm glad Irvine didn't see that; he'd be kicking my sorry ass right now!'

_Hope y'all liked it! and guess what? More gore and mayhem and questions to come in the next chapter! Horray for mayhem! Death to all! MWHAHAHA!...man, I have eaten waayyy too much sugar today...R&R...even if you hated it!_


	3. Transient Unity

_Thanks for the support on this, reviewers! I would never ever compare this story to anything like Stephen king would write though. He is a god, lol! Um… more characters introduced and of course, lots more blood, killing etc. And Selphie's evil side shows its face!_

**Chapter three**

**– Transient Unity**

Zell explained that he had been sent up to investigate the classrooms in search of Natala, who had become a dangerous threat to the SeeDs in Balamb Garden, killing twenty-three, as they knew it so far. He said that they weren't one hundred percent sure why she was doing it or what exactly her motives were; all they knew was that she had obviously gone quite mad during the night when 'all this' had happened. But, much to Selphie's dismay, Zell informed her that they knew as much as Selphie did about their haunting situation.

They were cautiously heading for the Quad where, Zell had told her, a group of SeeDs including Quistis and Irvine had congregated to try figure out what was happening. Selphie's heart leapt with knowledge of Irvine's safety and longed to see him.

'What about the others?' she inquired, keeping half an eye on Moeru and Aya trailing behind and the other half on their deserted surroundings. 'What about Squall and Rinoa?'

Zell shook his head sadly. 'No. Neither have been seen since last night. I'm guessing Squall's protecting her. I hope so.'

Selphie remembered the flash of black in the corner of her eye and didn't think that Rinoa was with him. Perhaps he was looking for her. Strangely, a part of her was angry; shouldn't he be in charge? He is the commander after all, it was his duty to put his SeeDs first and she was sure he knew they were dropping like flies around him, each dying their own nasty way by a psycho, and yet he did nothing. Yet a part of her couldn't be angry. He loved Rinoa, she was sure of it, and his first concern would be her safety. She wondered if Irvine had thought the same thing about her when all of this had happened.

Once again, the usually cheerful Quad provided no mental sanctity for the girl. The fountains had been turned off so the chatter of water had been silenced; now it just glared grimly at them from its marble prison. Even though they were in open air there was no wind. The sky was grey and dull and Selphie had no idea of the location of the Garden. It was slightly cold, the clouds sweeping past the sun in a constant rush to reach the other side, they let no warmth sneak through their wispy bonds.

Conversation had diminished before they had entered and Selphie supposed this was a 'secret hideout', though she couldn't phantom how it would be a safe – or secret – place to reside. The quiet made her arms prickle with a spiky fear that bit into the insides of her mind, making her jittery and paranoid. Her only comfort was the axe she had retrieved after her 'fight' with Zell, soothing her with its dark presence behind her back.

Yet as soon as she spotted the flowing, brown trench coat, the askew cowboy hat and dominating grin her fear passed like a breeze on a summer's day. He saw her too and relief expressed itself through his demeanour and eyes. They ran to each other and embraced, Selphie nuzzling his chest with her head fondly. For the first time that day she shed tears, they trickled down her rosy cheeks and dripped onto clothes.

'Selphie, I'm so glad you're all right,' he cooed in her ear, 'I was so worried about you.'

Selphie wiped her eyes and stared up into his face; to choked up to say anything so offered him an earnest smile.

'Yes. We're all glad to see that you're okay,' Selphie peered around Irvine's chest and saw Quistis. She looked fragile and gaunt, bags hung beneath her blues eyes, and Selphie could see that the killings and situation had taken its toll on her beauty.

'But,' the instructor continued, 'it's important that we find out what's going on here. I for one have not even the slightest idea of what it could be. Well I think that one thing is obvious: we are clearly being monitored,' she nodded to a camera, a spectator to the reunion, 'but for what reason, I don't know. We did discuss the matter but nothing seemed to add up. It's…just too sudden and so unexpected.'

Selphie surveyed the Lower area of the Quad where they were situated and took in several groups of SeeDs sitting around in clumps on the floor, each donning a face of sorrow, anger and bemusement. Aya and Moeru had rejoined their friends and seemed to be mourning their lost ones. _Is it safe to have so many here in one place?_

'We did think of one connection though,' Irvine remarked, his chest vibrating softly against her cheek, 'everybody here are SeeDs. It's clearly not the whole Garden here, is it? There aren't any SeeD candidates or juniors, only the people that have passed their exams and are fully affiliated SeeDs are here.'

Selphie pulled away from her boyfriend and twirled a brown lock around her finger thoughtfully, content with being reunited with him. 'So, you're saying that…perhaps, whoever's behind this, wants SeeD dead?'

'Balamb SeeDs to be precise, Selphie,' Quistis corrected, a tiny frown carved into her features, 'But, how exactly do they plan to kill us all? Using Natala?'

Zell crouched down and punched the floor. An outburst he boasts when he is frustrated with himself. 'No, that can't be it! How would whoever's behind this know that Natala would go crazy in a situation like this? And where the hell is everyone else? And why exactly did she go all psycho?'

Irvine adjusted his hat and shrugged. 'Maybe she witnessed what happened to the candidates and juniors.'

The thought was horrifying to the four of them and silence started to build a wall around them as they stared at the floor for a moment, each with their own images of what-might-of-happened racing before their eyes. Zell knocked down the wall that was enclosing them.

'That aint helping anything! Why'd ya have to say something like that, eh? What we need to think about now is not how the situation happened but how we gonna get outta it!'

The noise rang shrilly in the quiet air and it made each person in the Quad jump. It was the last sound they had expected to hear in this sort of situation and Selphie suddenly found her situation very surreal, as if it had transformed suddenly into a normal day in Garden.

_Ting, Ting, Ting._ **'Ahem… um…th-this is the headmaster speaking.' **

Every single person in the Quad fell silent. Disbelief flooded the environment and they drowned quickly in it. They looked up at the speakers positioned around the area and waited for him to continue.

**'Erm…you are, well, probably wondering what's going on aren't you?' **he laughed nervously and Selphie thought she caught a manic note tinting his voice. **'My SeeDs, forgive me, but…I cannot tell. You are stuck in Garden and you must fight or organise and trust each other. For there is one escape pod available. That escape pod is made for one person and one person only. Once the escape pod leaves with the person it can never come back.'**

'Wh-what's he talking about, man?' Zell was shaking all over. His eyes were wide with horror and anger. Quistis shushed him and listened intently.

**'I…I'm so sorry; so incredibly sorry. I never wanted this to happen I-' **Cid broke down into a sob and the sound became muffled. When he began again his voice was shaky and unsure. **'I had no choice dammit! Please. Forgive me. You'll have to figure things out amongst yourselves now. The escape pod is in the carpark. Th-that is all.'**

_Ting, ting, ting. _

'What the fuck was all that about?' Zell screamed to the speaker, punching the air, frantically trying to relive the frustration and confusion that had been eroding him away to a whimpering core.

Selphie fell to her knees and pressed her blood-covered hands on the cool surface of the concrete ground. 'I…I just don't understand…why? What-what's going ON?'

Aya stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke with an assertive tone that made everyone turn and face her hopefully. 'I think I know Selphie! I think I understand what's go-'

At first the SeeD wasn't sure of what had just happened. Aya's eyes bulged and she opened her mouth wide in a silent scream, blood and spittle trickled from her lips, her tongue protruded and hung wetly on her chin. She fell on top of the stunned girl and that's when Selphie realised that she had been shot in the back. Right before her eyes. And she could see Natala now, a hideous grin marring her features, her eyes manic with insanity, a gun raised and still smoking. Her hair was chestnut brown but was matted with blood, her uniform was ripped in several places revealing her bare chest beneath, lacquered in crimson liquid. Both anger and fear battled inside Selphie as she felt the dead weight of Aya sprawled across her legs.

Somehow, something inside her clicked, an instinct emerged; one that had existed since the dawn of time. _Have to survive. Have to live. Have to fight and live to see another day._ Selphie felt this instinct surface in her just as she heard the gun shots cry out around her. Selphie grabbed the dead girl on her lap as fast as she could and used her corpse as a shield. No shame came to her. _Must live. Must survive. _

But she was slightly too late and she felt a bullet bite her left arm. The force of it threw her backwards, Aya's body crushing her own, Aya's blood spilling onto her skin, mixing with her own that was seeping from her bullet wound. Yet now Selphie could feel a fresh pain scorch her back and she screamed out. The axe was cutting into her, slowly piercing her flesh and almost touching her spine. In her haze of panic and pain she kicked Aya off of her and sat up reaching clumsily behind her to remove the axe and its one fang.

Now she heard more gunshots and realised how stupid she been sitting up and waited to die, expecting to see the bullets explode in her chest and head. But they didn't. The brunette realised they were coming from behind her and turned to see that some of the SeeDs had gotten their act together and were madly firing at Natala with handguns.

Selphie was right in their line of fire and tried to move away, but the axe was still digging into her lower back and her arm was bursting with an explosive pain. A wave of dizziness rolled across her vision as mist would roll off a mountain. If she moved anymore she was sure she was going to pass out but –

She felt two hands force her to her feet and she was being guided across the spinning Quad to a bush where she was left with nothing but a flash of a brown coat and an anxious look.

_Irvine._

It took all her mental might to stay conscious as she twisted her arms into an awkward position behind her back and grasped the axe's handle. She pulled it out and realised suddenly that that is what she had had to do to the boy in the library. When the blade came loose the waves of pain that followed came with such explosive force she cried out in agony each time. But, she had to fight with the others. Besides, she was no safer than they were hiding in this bush and she could hear the screams as gunfire pleaded with her to join them.

She stumbled into the open, her eyes trying desperately trying to focus on her environment but had unsuccessful results. She looked around, light headed now from loss of blood, and saw from behind a thick veil the body of Moeru, the hilt of a dagger sticking out of her chest. Her head was turned slightly, her eyes bulging with shock, even in death unbelieving that her existence had come to such an ending.

And around Moeru, the bodies of her friends, of other SeeDs, laying in growing puddles of their own and others blood. And there was Quistis, fighting bravely on from behind a toppled bench, and there was Irvine, shooting from behind a tree trunk and there was Zell trying to collect a gun from one of his fallen comrades. And there was Selphie, standing to the side, looking around with a dizzy, unclear perspective, her axe quivering in her hands, blood gushing from her back and from her arm.

_Must survive. Must live. Must fight. _

So she ran at Natala in her cloud of confusion and disorientation that passed onto Natala as she felt the axe being driven into her side again and again and again and again and again and again. Before her soul left her body she looked up and saw a demon. A girl with blood covering every inch of her body, her eyes were mad with the lust to kill, her teeth were bared in a monstrous snarl, she rose her axe with unwavering determination and objective and brought it down to her once more before Natala fell on her front, her nose crunching against the ground. But she did not feel it. She had died long before she hit the ground.

Selphie stood over the corpse panting. The few survivors watched in fascinated horror as the blood drenched girl continued to chop away at Natala's dead body, severing limbs and causing great fountains of rose-red blood to spurt out over the SeeD's face, arms, legs and torso. She only stopped when the killer's head was rolling away over the ground, it's expression as horrified as the onlookers.

Irvine approached her warily and touched her shoulder. Selphie collapsed in a heap at his feet with only a sigh escaping her lips.

_R&R is ya wanna find out what happens next_


	4. The Fire In His Eyes

_eep...I'm running outta chapters to submit! Must write faster! erm..I hope you've been enjoyin' it so far and I warn you now in this chapter there'll be Death of a well-loved character. But who? READ ON TO FIND OUT! oh, and look who's turned up!Don't forget to review, I really appreiciate it._

Chapter four  
- The fire in his eyes

Selphie awoke just a short while later and found herself staring up at a concrete ceiling. Her head was throbbing slightly and it was just a few short minutes before memories cloaked in crimson red blanketed her eyes. She was looking down into Natala's brown eyes, full of terror; she hadn't expected the SeeD's ruthless attack with such a primitive weapon, she hadn't expected to fall beneath the same axe she had killed two students with earlier. Some dark interior of Selphie's mind – one she had not known she had – laughed hysterically in triumph. She had slain the slayer! Murdered the murderer! She had done it shamelessly, heedless of the others life and thoughts and friends and family! She died a horrific end by _her hands!_

_My hands…_

Selphie looked down at her hands, crusted blood packed thickly beneath her nails and smeared her palms. She had killed someone out of her own will that day. Somehow, it was different to the killings she had done in war or during a mission because she had had to kill then. But today, she had killed a fellow SeeD, a mad SeeD, yes, but Natala had been a friend once; was Natala's mind really so corrupted as Selphie had presumed?

Today, Selphie had killed with cold blood.

'Selph! You're awake!'

The green-eyed girl looked up and saw Zell leaning over her. His face showed relief and mild concern but his eyes showed something different, fear? Paranoia? Was this her doing?

Perhaps, but she could not interpret further because that's when the sound of raised voices found her. Something was wrong again and Zell was worried about it. She noticed now how he nervously glanced over his shoulder at something then stared back down at her, offering a wan smile that didn't reach his electric-blue eyes. He coughed suddenly.

'Um… Quisty bandaged you up. There was a lot of blood but um… the cut wasn't as serious as we all first thought.'

Selphie slowly lifted herself up into sitting position and waited momentarily for her eyes to focus. She went to speak but found her throat and mouth to be dry like a drained lake. She searched her surroundings and found herself in the car park where

_(the escape pod is)_

a gathering of people was collected nearby. This included Quistis and Irvine, and there was Rinoa now! And Nida! But… there was something wrong.

'C'mon guys,' Irvine was saying, 'don't be like this, it isn't the time. We have to sort this out in a sophisticated manner. We're not getting anywhere like this.'

'Oh, right. Because you're sophisticated all the time,' Rinoa snapped sardonically.

'Rin, look, let's just stop and think about this for a moment.'

'What's there to think about?' Rinoa was shouting now. 'I'm not even a student at this damn Garden, why should I stay here while I'm waiting for _you _to 'get help'?'

Zell had rejoined them and was gingerly standing on the outskirts of the argument with Nida. 'M-maybe we should… go look for Squall?'

Quistis shook her head, her long blonde hair floating around her face and she looked at him and said reproachfully, 'Zell, none of us have seen Squall. I'm not sure if he's even ali-'

Rinoa slapped her so hard round the face Quistis lost her balance and fell sideways to her knees. The instructor clutched her reddened cheek and glared up at the raven-haired girl in muted anger.

'Don't say that!' Rinoa screamed at her and had attempted to leap on her but Irvine held her back.

Selphie witnessed this in disbelief. How could they be arguing in a time like this? _What sort of time is this anyway?_ She stood up on shaky legs and felt a bolt streak through her arm. She clutched it in a futile attempt to sooth the numbing pain. No one seemed to notice her quivering form as she limped over to the vicious circle.

'Rinoa, we have to think about this logically. We can't just rush off without some sort of plan… like… where do we go from here? We don't even know where we fucking are!' Zell was shouting at her, his voice bouncing angrily off the enclosed space of the car park, which was empty except for a tiny hovercraft, which Selphie presumed was the escape pod.

'Zell, if someone actually went out then maybe we would have some idea where we are, then they could go and get help,' Quistis suggested, regaining her composure and feet. She avoided eye contact with Rinoa but Selphie could see the fire in her gaze.

'Who's gonna go then?' Zell said, resting a hand on his right thigh and crossing his legs.

There was an odd silence as everyone eyed each other suspiciously, each wanting to go but each to afraid to nominate themselves. Selphie contemplated what a feud within their friendship circle would result to. She wanted to take action before that happened.

'Well… Why don't we draw straws or something fair like that?' the brunette suggested.

'Oh Hyne,' Rinoa moaned, slapping her forehead and sending a murderous glare at Selphie, 'trust you to think of something childish like that!'

'I don't see you coming up with anything better, Miss perfect!' Irvine retorted, his eyes burning furiously beneath the brim of his hat.

'Besides, how do you know it wouldn't be rigged?'

'What are you accusing me of, Quistis?'

'I'm not accusing you of anything, Selphie, I just don't think that certain individuals among us are worthy of such trust.'

'That was directed at me wasn't it you bitch!'

'Rinoa calm down! Fighting wont solve anything we have to think-'

'Stop telling me what to fucking do! I have to get out of this place! Let me go! LET ME GO!'

The sound of an engine roared to their right and they watched in horror and dismay as the hovercraft lifted into the air and the smug face of Nida stared out at them behind a glass window. He activated the emergency escape door from inside the capsule and began to move toward the opening in front of them.

Selphie always found it difficult to recall the next moment. Everyone in that room had been taken by surprise and she was amazed that they hadn't all gone into a severe state of shock. It's usually the little things that lead to loss of life, like losing your footing and falling in front of a car, but she knew after that Zell had been acting out of pure instinct. If her own reaction time had been better perhaps she would have been the one that had died instead. She'd never know.

Zell ran toward the escaping escape pod but was thrown back by an unpredicted explosion. The remaining cars were tipped onto their sides, a few exploding in a chain reaction that shook the ground beneath their feet. Selphie, Irvine, Quistis and Rinoa had ducked behind or scrambled into the interiors of vehicles but Zell was caught in the blast and they could hear him _screaming_ as the flames engulfed him.

Selphie was curled into a ball behind an overturned car, her hands over her ears trying to block the explosion, but most of all, the sound of one her best friend's screams as he was burning alive. She could hear him screeching, crying out for help, but she was too scared, to fucking consumed by her own need to survive that she didn't answer his pleas, didn't leap into the fire like the stereo typical heroes of today and retrieve him. Selphie hid behind the safety of a car and waited until it was safe to leave.

_But is anything safe anymore?_

Surprisingly, Selphie found that she was the first to rise from her place of security. She could see Quistis huddled behind a burnt out vehicle, her head bowed as if in prayer. She could see the top of Irvine's hat, singed and smoking, peering over a car top. She could hear the faint sound of Rinoa sobbing to her left. And in front of her she could see Zell. What was left of Zell.

For a moment she stood there, perfectly still, and just stared at his body. For a moment she was numb, there was just…nothing. Not even a thought passed through her. It was so quiet suddenly that she was consumed by the surreal feeling that she was alone in an empty room with just Zell's body. She came to a conclusion that stuck thickly in her head: he was caught dead on by the blast.

There was no real way that Selphie could describe the way Zell looked. She could try to put it simply: he was burned very badly – but she knew that didn't exactly cover it. Selphie knew that many people mistake that the most common 'wound' when a bomb detonates beside you is a missing limb or two, but actually it's burns, and not the sort of burns you get when you accidentally pour boiling water on your hand. Zell was naked – his clothes burned away – but it didn't matter because his skin had melted into a brown-red ooze. His face was featureless, no lips, no eyes, no nose, no hair. His left arm had been blown off but his burns were so severe the stump didn't even bleed. Selphie realised that the explosion had lasted longer than she had first thought.

_He suffered for so long_. _At least he didn't survive through it._ When Selphie thought that, she was deeply ashamed and burst into tears. Later on, she was glad he died when he did.

As she stood there crying behind the burnt out shell of a car the other three congregated together and stared in shock at Zell's body. No one could believe that the lively martial artist was dead. It hurt them so much that they forgot about the escape pod suddenly, forgot their anger towards Nida, and forgot their own personal miseries. They just stared at their former comrades body, lying in the middle of the car park as lifeless as a rotting branch fallen from its tree.

Rinoa was sick then. The noise alone made Quistis vomit also. Irvine moved away to Selphie who stood sniffing in the corner, unable to look at her former best friends body. Not even the heavy weight of Irvine's arm around her shoulder comforted her.

_I…I can't take this! Wh-what's going on…why? Why did Cid lie to us? ZELL DIED BECAUSE OF HIS LIES! That stupid bastard! Zell…Zell…. Zell! Come back! I…I don't want you to die Zell…_

'Zell, don't die!'

She shrugged off her boyfriends grip and ran to Zell's body. She stopped abruptly and wondered what she was doing before the smell of burnt flesh consumed her and she turned around and vomited onto the blackened floor. She wanted Irvine to come over to her but no one would approach Zell's stinking corpse. _Is that all he is now? A stinking corpse? Oh Zell… Why did it have to be you? Why do so many people have to die? Aya, Moeru, Natala and now you? Not you Zell! After…after everything we've been through together? Oh Hyne, take him in your arms and lift him to a better place, it's the least you can do!_

The ground was hot beneath her hands and now she saw that her palms were smeared with a mixture of black powder and dried blood. She began to tremble all over. Her thoughts melted into a clump and stuck to the back of her mind out of reach. Everything began to spin and she felt the dead presence of Zell's body inches from her. Selphie was faintly aware of being sick but thought thickly that it must be someone else, for she was sure she wasn't there. She was back in her bed sleeping. _I'll wake up. I'll wake up. And when I do, they'll be no cameras. They'll be no killings. They'll be no blood. Everything will be normal and nothing will be wrong. Very soon. I'll just wake up. Wake up Selphie c'mon I'm tired of this nightmare wake up wake up wake up wake up wa- _

'Selphie!'

The brunette's head snapped to the side as if she'd been slapped, her eyes were wide with alarm. 'Wh-what? Yes?'

'I've been calling you for… never mind. Come here, Selph.'

Somehow, she wasn't overly sure how she did it, but somehow she got to her feet. Stumbling into Irvine's arms she let out a sigh. She didn't know why any of this was happening but she did know that at that very point in time she needed Irvine more than anything. The SeeD wished that just by letting him wrap his arms around her that world would just disappear and all her fear and anguish would go with it.

'Selph, we can't stay here now,' he was saying. 'We – we've paid our respects to Zell. Let's just leave him in peace.'

'Irvine,' she whispered into his chest. 'I-it happened so fast didn't it?' _It didn't happen fast; he was slowly burnt alive._ 'He was just leaning over me a minute ago and –'

'Selphie don't,' Rinoa interrupted. She was holding her forehead with her eyes squeezed shut, as if trying to rid herself of a headache. 'We all know. Please, we'll never forget Zell but I'm sure he'd want us just to carry on. There's not much more we can do now.'

Selphie felt terrible. They were all standing with their backs to their friend's body; no one could even bare to look at him. It made her think of the bodies in the library and quad, all still lying there with the expression of fear and hate frozen on their faces, all still alone in the deathly silence that shrouded them. She didn't want Zell to be alone. Why couldn't she stay with him? She wanted to watch over him as she used, just to make sure that he didn't get scared or lonely or into trouble.

Everyone must have been looking at her for when Quistis said: 'Selphie, I loved Zell just as much as you but… he's gone now. I want more than anything to bury him, to say a proper goodbye to him, to lay flowers on his grave – but I can't. None of us can. As much as it hurts, there's nothing more we can do for him. I know it's difficult to accept but please, we must continue.' - Selphie felt a wail of despair shoot up to her throat and burn her eyes. It was true. Her best friend was gone!

_aw...shame. Poor Zell. :cough: ...what happens next? ooo...next chapter is good! Find out where all the cameras lead! And of course, the endless blood and guts and killings etc.Review please!_


	5. Pulling The Trigger

_Replies -_

_Mog: wow you really went out and bought BR 'cause of my story:blushes: It's only loosely based around it, but it is a great movie. Mitsuko rocks! _

_To all reviewers - when you review try not to give too much away, okay? Yes we all feel sorry for poor, hideously mangled Zell but try and keep it on the hush for the sake of future readers k? LOVE YA GUYS!_

Chapter five  
– Pulling the trigger

They had spoken for a while about what to do next, partly because they were at a loss of where to go now there was no escape pod and partly because they wanted to respectfully brush the subject of Zell under the carpet. Quistis said that she didn't think the danger was over – even though Natala was dead and the explosives had been detonated. This statement had unnerved Selphie probably because she wasn't sure what could be left that was a threat, and probably because she felt that the danger was right in front of her, dancing before her eyes, yet should couldn't quite reach it. She thought that Irvine must of felt the same way because he hastily suggested that they try and get answers out of Cid before anything else happened.

Currently, they were inside the elevator. The camera and its unblinking eye stared at them with an intense fascination that was difficult to ignore, like when you see someone staring at you from the corner of your eye. Quistis was pretending to fiddle with something on her arm though Selphie knew she was trying to distract herself. Rinoa had turned her back on it and held an upright stiff composure that betrayed her uneasiness at being watched this close. Irvine however, was not taking to the confined situation so well. Beads of sweat glistened on his brow and stained his hat dark around the rim. He kept glancing to the camera and at the floor and at the camera and at Quistis and at the camera and at the wall and at the camera and at his hands until finally he turned to Selphie – who had been watching him with an apprehensive stare – and ordered, 'Give me your axe.'

All of a sudden Selphie found herself back in the same position she had found herself in – what? – a few hours ago? To Selphie, it had seemed like years ago that Aya, herself and Moeru stood in that very elevator and debated about whether to smash the camera and here she was again, in the same situation. And just as it had the previous time the same feeling tugged at the corners of her mind, shouting to be heard and acknowledged.

'No,' Selphie said.

Irvine looked shocked but didn't have a chance to press his request further.

_Ting _

Quistis left her sleeve alone and Rinoa turned around eagerly.

The camera didn't move and neither did the doors.

They waited a little longer, Selphie gripping her right arm nervously. Nobody said a word.

The doors still didn't open.

Irvine pushed through the girls and stood in front of the door, wiping the back of his hand across his brow. He pushed a button but it made no difference and all of a sudden the space was a lot smaller than Selphie had originally thought. The walls seemed to breathe, to close in on her. She closed her eyes and took long deep breaths.

'What's up with these doors?' Irvine cried in frustration. He banged on the thick, metallic sheets before him. 'Fucking open!'

'Irvine-'

'Don't 'Irvine' me! Why the hell wont the doors open? Who's idea was it to get in the fucking elevator in a time like this? It could be a trap! They could gas the elevator any moment or they could cut the chords and we go plunging to the ground – Wham! Smack! Fuck this! Get me outta here!'

'The elevator wouldn't reach the third floor last time I used it either. Perhaps Cid blocked access to it?'

'Why didn't you tell us then?' the cowboy screamed at his girlfriend, 'we wouldn't be stuck in here otherwise, would we? Was this your bright idea?'

'Irvine, we all agreed to visit Cid-'

'Oh so it was yours was it, Trepe? Well just give yourself a pat on the back because-'

'Will you guys…just _stop arguing_? You're like a bunch of children!'

'Listen Rinoa, was I talking to you? No, so just stay-'

'STOP IT!' Selphie cried, 'you're wasting oxygen! No, the doors aren't opening. No, we can't get out. We'll have to find an alternative. So why don't we…' She jumped up and unlatched a trap door. '…climb up the ladder to reach the third floor instead?'

For a moment her friends and the camera stared at the girl then seemed to agree soundlessly.

Their metallic footsteps bounced eerily off the walls. They scrambled clumsily up the ladder because there were no external lights outside the lift, so the group had to feel very carefully for each rung, keeping a steady pace so no one would bump into each other. Clink, clink, clink, their echo was harsh and the darkness was pressing. Selphie took lead, nervous and afraid, expecting to reach up and the soft flesh of someone else above her. Or for the clink, clink, clink to fade until she would realise in horror that the others were gone and she was left alone in the awful, musty, _dark_ elevator panel.

Sweat dripped down her face and her breathing became abrasive.

They came to a light grey door, shut tight and barred by thick, black panels. Selphie was directly beside it, where the ladder ended. She it with the palm of her hand and, unsurprisingly, it didn't even shudder. She heard Rinoa sigh impatiently from the darkness below.

Closing her eyes, she let an aura surround the area, lighting it dimly, then let this summoned magic explode from her fingertips in the form of Fire. The door was blown into the room behind with a crash that made Selphie cry out quite suddenly. A cloud of dust bellowed from the gaping opening and white light streaked the wall opposite, illuminating the long drop beneath them.

'Alright Selph,' she heard the sniper urge, 'keep going. There's no point in being quiet, the whole Garden probably heard that blast.'

_Is he angry?_

The brunette shifted herself into the third floor room apprehensively, heard the soft thunk of he boots meeting the carpet. She walked forward a little. She hardly heard them enter behind her, hardly heard the string of curses Irvine whispered, hardly heard Rinoa's strangled sob, hardly heard Quistis drop to her knees.

She only saw.

He obviously hadn't been there long. Maybe he did it when the door was blown off. A mixture of brain, blood and fragmented skull was splattered up the wall to their left. Crimson drops trickled down the paintwork like rain down a window, leaving neat, red trails in their wake. The mahogany desk was pooled with blood, oozing down the wooden legs and staining the cream carpet.

Headmaster Cid sat behind the desk, his body slumped onto its surface, face pressed into his own blood, a pistol in his right hand.

Selphie's heart pounded heavily and her breathing felt laboured. The press of the axe against her back increased as death throbbed like a living thing in the air.

_Why? Why is this happening? He…he was the only one who knew…the only one who could explain! Damn him! Damn him…_

And now she could drag her eyes away, she realised that that wasn't it. The entire room was plastered ceiling to floor with surveillance videos – the link to the cameras.

_Hyne there's so many,_ Selphie thought dumbly. _There must be at least two to every room._

The tiny screens blinked in unison, each portraying their own section of Garden. Selphie saw the bodies in the library and flicked her eyes to another. She saw the blood soaked needle in the infirmary. She saw her friends' bodies in the Quad. She saw Zell – oh Hyne Zell!

Her legs gave way and she stared at the carpet.

They were all surprised because Quistis was the first to step forward. The instructor hesitated, avoided looking at the old headmaster, and leaned forward very abruptly to snatch a piece of paper from the desk Selphie had failed to notice earlier.

Quistis gagged before she turned back to them. 'It's a letter,' she told them quietly. 'Cid's handwriting.' She paused then, held it away from her and turned her head. 'I-I…can't…can't…'

Irvine took it from her trembling hand. He opened his mouth to speak but a cracked sound came out instead. He coughed before beginning to read. 'To my SeeDs,' he began, 'I do not know who I am addressing but I can make my own valid guesses. Currently, I am in no position to justify or even explain your situation. All I can say is that I was deeply opposed to the entire idea, and yet all my secret attempts to resist and reason ended in vain and thus, your predicament occurred. Believe me though; I tried my best to prevent this from happening. I was a fool. I should have seen this coming a long time ago, as soon as the second sorceress war ended. Perhaps I did, but that is not relevant now.

'I know that some of you reached the escape pod. As you found out the hard way, it was a faux, just another way to exterminate you. You see, none of you are meant to survive. The only person who is is me. How? There is another escape pod. One that isn't littered with explosives, I hastened to add. It was meant for me, as I said, but I know that I would not be able to live with myself if I left you all behind.

'I take my life because I am afraid of you. But, I see it as a life for a life. I have given you another chance to get out of this place. A bit of hope, if you will. Use it wisely because-'

Irvine stopped reading suddenly and flipped the paper over.

'And…?' Quistis inquired.

'That's it,' he concluded with a shrug. 'Perhaps he couldn't finish it 'cause we came in.'

There was an awkward pause and a familiar tension embraced the room.

Rinoa had her hand over her face. 'So there's another one?' Her voice sounded muffled. 'But where…?'

'Oh come on! Can we actually trust him?' Irvine laughed acidly. 'He was probably a raving lunatic by the end – I mean, look at him for Hyne's sake!' He pointed at the dead man. 'He shot himself in the fucking he-'

'That's enough!' Quistis shouted and sobbed suddenly.

Selphie was at a loss. Another pod? Images of Zell burned in her mind. What if Irvine was right? And last time everyone argued, their friendship being stretched and twisted to its limits. Now it was like a rubber band that was being pulled in opposite directions, taut and under immense strain, ready to snap at any time. Would another escape pod break that rubber band once and for all? And what would the consequences be if that happened?

Yet…there was also a dark feeling that blanketed part of Selphie's mind. It spread quietly, lapped at her thoughts and festered like a disease across her sanity.

_Why do I need them anyway?_ she thought darkly. _They're only holding me back. I could escape and find the pod by myself…but what if they come after me? I should get rid of them while my chances are good…get them swiftly…no time to retaliate…and then-_

'Oh my…!' Rinoa exclaimed suddenly. She was pointing at one of the screens. 'Squall!'

Selphie's thought dispersed and she was horrified at herself. She shook her head and turned to look at the screen. And so it was. Commander Squall Leonhart, strolling idly through the cafeteria as if it was a normal day in Garden. He glanced in an apathetic manner at the camera, as if he was looking right at the foursome, then jumped over the bar and entered the kitchen beyond. They all began desperately scanning the screens to find him again but it was as if he had disappeared.

'Oh my god!' she said again. 'Oh Squall! He's alive! He's…he's…oh Squall wait there! Come on, we have to go and get him! Everyone go back down the ladder, quickly, while he's still in the cafeteria!'

Selphie thought, _Something's wrong…_

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was – unsurprising – deserted. From somewhere amidst a bustle of over-turned chairs and table, stacked clumsily upon one another like there was desperate struggle to reach the ceiling, a faint drip-drip-drip could be heard – the dripping of blood perhaps? Or was that the uncertain and suspicious voices tingling in the back of Selphie's mind convincing her so?

Glancing over at an overturned tray dripping congealed mashed potato onto the tiled floor with sickening squelches, Selphie concluded that it was indeed the voices in her head.

'What happened here?' Quistis inquired, taking in the wrecked Cafeteria with her arms wrapped around her slender torso.

Selphie shrugged, felt the reassuring bite of the axe against her lower back. 'A struggle?'

Rinoa called out into the empty space Squall's name. It echoed appallingly, bouncing off the walls as if the word were rubber.

They waited in silence but there was no reply.

Irvine cocked his hat and walked over to the counter. 'C'mon,' he said, 'you saw him, didn't you? He went over here.'

'Irvy…' Selphie began tentatively, but the others were already approaching the counter, eager to locate their missing leader.

_All right_, she thought, _why are ya getting yourself worked up this time Selphie? We should find Squall; he's bound to know something about what's happened. Then we can find this escape pod together. He's probably looking for us anyway…_

Once past the counter, they walked across the serving area and through double silver doors that swung open easily. Everyone held his or her breath, each praying that Squall would be there.

But he wasn't.

The metallic kitchen surfaces were shiny and clean. The white tiled floor gleamed in the overheads and plates – dirty and clean – were stacked neatly on the tables that ringed the oblong room. Stinking mounds of food lay rotting on some plates; a bottle of water lay on its side like a fallen tree, spewing its contents over the side onto the floor. It was eerily quiet.

'S-Squall?' Rinoa called quietly.

They lingered by the door gingerly, positive they had seen Squall enter only minutes before hand, and they had definitely not seen anyone exit the cafeteria on their way in.

'Well that's a major bummer,' Selphie commented, crossing her arms.

'We can't leave without Squall!' Rinoa exclaimed, as if someone had brought up that possibility. 'He has to be around here somewhere, and now I know he's alive I'm determined to find him!'

'Oh c'mon, Rin, _I'm_ desperate to get outta here. Squall's capable of handling himself. Why don't we find the escape pod and then –'

'I'm not leaving him!'

It was then that Selphie noticed it, and it was quite surprising that she did because it wasn't very blatant. A gap in the knife rack; one was missing. The black knife handles went up in size, little ebony fingers pointing out of a wooden block, their shiny blades hidden from view. And the biggest one was missing.

Selphie's stomach knotted. A coincidence, surely? 'Um…guys. Can we…err…leave now…please?'

Irvine adjusted his hat. 'What?'

'There's a knife miss –'

She lunged out from behind a tall cupboard, her face a mask of fury and insanity, her uniform torn and bloodied. Her hair was matted against her face, eyes so wide the white around them showed. In her hand she wielded a long carving knife: the missing one.

'Xu!'

And there was hardly any time to react because she upon them so fast and her attack was so unexpected. Selphie whipped out her axe and breezed to the right as the knife whistled past her left side. She turned quickly and arched the axe upward at the same time, clipping the crazed Xu's left arm. Blood splattered along the shiny surfaces as Xu gave a scream.

Quistis and Irvine had dived to the back of the room – a foolish thing to do in Selphie's opinion because now they were trapped – and Rinoa had thrown herself though the double doors into the serving area out of sight. Selphie was very aware of the fact that she was the only one armed.

The mad SeeD flung herself at Selphie, stabbing madly at the air like a machine, and Selphie was thrown back against the centre table. Using the axe she blocked the knife and it became lodged in the wooden handle. Xu struggled momentarily to get it free then leapt off the girl, staggering like a drunken monster across the kitchen to retrieve another one.

In Selphie's haze of adrenalin she heard Quistis shriek: 'Xu stop it! What are you doing, we're your friends!'

But it was no use. Selphie hurled herself at Xu's turned back and stretched around her body to knock the knife block away from her reach. It went skidding across the counter and landed on the floor with a heavy thunk.

Irvine leapt upon the dark haired girl now, pinning her thrashing arms to the counter and avoiding her kicking legs, he screamed something to Selphie.

But Selphie couldn't hear him. Once again, something inside her had clicked and she felt more strongly the weight of the axe in her hands, saw more vividly the splashes of crimson blood and sparking of light off the axe's blade. She rushed at Xu and with a sickening crunch plunged the axe into Xu's chest. The former SeeD gave a horrific howl and fell to the floor, gurgling on her own blood.

She was dead within a minute, the axe planted in her like a deadly flower.

_DEATH TO ALL MWAHAHA! err...anyway...on a serious note..._

_I'm very sorry but don't expect the next chapter any time soon. It's not that I've lost interest but not only am I juggling another 2 fanfics, but I'm editing someones story as well. I guarantee though that in the next instalment there will be an unexpected murder and the team go 'Scooby Doo' style and split up…. not to look for clues mind you…_

_Reviews are helpful and needed, so please do it. : )_


	6. No Love Lost

_Haha! Finshed chapter six finally. And there's probably only two more chapters left at the most, though I think that the next one could be the last. Thank you for all the reviews reviewers I'd be grateful if you reviewed this chapter as well! _

**Chapter** **six – No Love Lost**

'Don't you think,' Quistis began, 'that it's a rather peculiar that Squall wasn't in the cafeteria and yet a crazed Xu was?'

'What the hell are you implying?'

My thoughts from earlier echoed ominously in my head. _He's probably looking for us anyway… _

_No…surely not…? No._

'Oh well, it's probably,' the instructor was saying, 'nothing. I suppose we're all just eager to get out of this cursed place.'

'Damn straight!' Irvine agreed. 'So let's stop standin' around and find this pod.' He turned to Rinoa. 'You still wanna find Squall?'

The raven-haired girl looked sheepishly at the floor. I um…think we should find the pod…first.'

'Now that's what I'm talkin' about!'

They were hovering around outside the cafeteria, all ears and eyes, listening and watching for any unwanted visitors.

'Where to then?'

They thought for a moment then Rinoa said, 'Perhaps we should split up?'

'You're kidding! That's what they say in all the horror movies and like, only one person lives!'

'Stop being immature, Irvine,' Quistis scolded. 'I agree with Rinoa anyway.' She rummaged around her skirt belt and drew out two walkie-talkies. 'If one of us finds the pod then contact the other, how does that sound?'

_How do we know that you'll contact us at all? _Selphie thought, but said, 'Yeah okay!' Then, _Well I'll just have to find it first wont I?_

She took the tiny contraption and put it in one of her pockets.

Selphie automatically went to Irvine and they wordlessly agreed to search the second floor, leaving the other girls to do the one they were on. As they wandered in their separate directions, Selphie pondered upon leaving Rinoa and Quistis alone. They couldn't expect her and Irvine to split up could they? Even though the girls didn't really get along, she was sure that put in the dire situation they were in they'd pull together. So she hoped anyway.

They took the stairs instead of the elevator this time, just to be safe, and arrived on the second floor to find it deathly silent and still, the cameras blinking and the tiled floor shining dully in the humming overheads. Selphie still found it difficult to become accustomed to this ghost-town version of Garden.

'Let's check in the 2F classroom first,' Irvine said, his voice sounded cracked and strained. He was clearly nervous. He kept fiddling with his hat and jacket and his eyes were shifty. It made Selphie uneasy.

She drew her axe and leapt into the classroom, ready for anything. She could see them now in her minds eye. Crazed students crouched behind the counters; eyes blood shot, foaming at the mouth uniforms torn and meaningless. They would come crashing toward screaming insanely, tearing, biting, ripping at her flesh.

But none came. There was only quiet.

She didn't expect the pod to be in there anyway, Zell had been in the classroom not long ago.

They searched the other classrooms but found nothing, so proceeded to the stairs at the far end of corridor that led to the area, open to the elements, where people could leave and enter the Garden when they docked in places like Fishermen's Horizon.

Selphie released a squeal of joy when she saw the escape pod dominating the central part of the concrete area. It was grander and much larger than the fake one in car park. It looked like it could fit at least six people!

The brunette retrieved the walkie-talkie and pressed down the grey button. 'Selphie here, Quistis pick up.'

It crackled and she thought she heard a distorted noise but wasn't sure.

'Quistis, pick up if you're there.'

The crackling became obtrusive.

'Quistis pick up!'

It snapped and hissed and buzzed.

_I knew something would happen! I told myself they didn't get along but Hyne, I didn't think Rinoa would go this far…how could she? Oh Hyne please pick up Quistis! I…I should of-_

'**Quistis here, have you found it Selphie?'**

Selphie gave a sigh of relief and clutched the walkie-talkie to her chest for a moment, closing her eyes.

'**Selphie?'**

'Y-yes! Sorry, I thought…never mind. We found it! Meet me in the second floor corridor and I'll show you where it is!'

'**Excellent! We'll meet you there! Quistis out.'**

The green-eyed girl slipped the metallic communication system back into her pocket, and turned around and jumped violently. Irvine was standing directly behind her. She hadn't even heard him approach! The brim of his hat covered his eyes and it frightened her.

'Selphie, Honey.' His voice sounded strange. 'Let's go.'

She took a nervous step back. 'Wh-what? What do you mean 'let's go'?'

He chuckled nervously. 'You weren't actually going to wait for those chumps were you? C'mon, we don't need them. Let's get outta here just the two of us.'

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'N-no! I wont leave them in this crazy place! They'll kill each other!'

'Better them than us eh? They're crazy. Can't you see it?' He looked at her from beneath his hat, his blue eyes pooled in shadow. 'Or are you crazy too?'

'Wh-what? No! Of course I'm not! I wont leave them Irvine!'

'Well I can,' he laughed again. 'And I'm taking you with me! Conscious or unconscious; it's all the same to me!' He withdrew a long, metal pole from his trench coat and as he grabbed her slender arm she wondered briefly_, when did he get that?_

'Irvy, d-don't! After everything…please! Stop it! Ah!'

But it was too late because the baton came whistling down past her ears yet she managed to roll away from it and break free of his grasp in one movement. Hesitantly, she drew her axe but it sagged lifelessly in her hands now. It felt so _wrong._

'Please,' she sobbed, 'don't do this! I…don't want to kill you!'

'Who said anything about killing?' he laughed and lunged at her.

She skidded to the left and it breezed past her side and crashed onto the concrete floor at her feet. Irvine arched it up instantly but the angle was all wrong and she hardly felt the blow to her shoulder. Selphie jumped back twice as he advanced, whipping the pole back and forth. The axe screamed to be used in her hands and she thought she felt her sanity slip away. The baton came down again, whistling past her ears and smashing onto the metal railing behind her with a loud clang.

Occasionally, through the grey whirling of the pole, she would catch the glimmer of insanity in his eyes and she knew she must take the initiative.

And then she saw the axe swing upwards towards his chest. Irvine parried the blow and resumed his attack. Selphie saw in her detached state the axe rear up again in slow motion and chip the pole. It didn't rest though, and it arched up again, the watery sun catching the metal surface. It bit into Irvine's shoulder and she heard him cry out, though it was like an echo to her, distant and surreal.

She thought the axe would stop then, but it didn't. It lunged at his neck like rabid animal and Irvine tried to push the attack aside but his shoulder wound weakened him and the blade lodged itself in his lower neck. Blood spurted and trickled down the wooden handle and his chest. His eyes bulged and he opened his mouth in a soundless scream.

The sniper fell and when Selphie looked down at her axe, she was astonished to see her blood-soaked hands gripping the handle.

Strangely enough, the first thought that blossomed in her mind was, _What will the others think? I must hide the body. _

Panting, she looked around, unaware that the axe had fallen out her numb hands, and realised there wasn't any place to hide the body, there was no time to drag it into one of the classrooms. She would have to get rid of it. And there was only one way to do that.

With unseeing eyes, she bent over beside the dead snipers body and encircled him with her arms. Ages ago, doing this would of given her the greatest of all comforts, but now he was nothing but a dead body to her, a traitor that needed to be extinguished from her life forever. She heaved him up and clumsily waddled over the to railings. Looking at his pale face one more time, and feeling nothing inside herself, she pushed him roughly over the side and watched his body bounce limply off the Garden's walls and disappear into the shimmering depths of the sea.

Gone.

She shook the feeling of being veiled from the world off and reclaimed her axe, the head now crusted with the blood of Natala and her boyfriend - ex-boyfriend - and she wished dearly that no other blood would be spilt by her hand. As Selphie walked through the door back into the enclosed corridor, she begged that everyone would just go peacefully into the escape pod and away from this hellish nightmare.

Oh course, she was wrong.

'I didn't say it was definite! You're twisting my words!'

The brunette heard their shouts before she could see them and momentarily considered doing what Irvine had suggested and leave without them. Yet sanity pushed her on.

'How can you change your mind? All that you and him went through together; does it mean nothing to you know?'

'What the hell do you know? You were never there with him - with us! How can judge our relationship by what you caught fragments of? You're an interfering bitch!'

Selphie dragged herself from around the corner like a zombie, her eyes detached and her movements forced. She said tonelessly, 'What are you doing?'

The instructor and the sorceress turned to her, eyes blazing.

'I thought we agreed that once we'd located the escape pod we'd turn back and find Squall!' Quistis explained angrily.

_Not this again…_

'What does it matter anymore?' Rinoa argued. 'He could be dead for all we know and now I know the way out of this shit-hole I don't want to go back down there and wait for another psychopath to try and kill me!'

Selphie wandered closer. 'Please…let's just go,' she pleaded in a tired voice. 'Let's stop arguing. Please?'

'Not until we find Squall!' the blonde shouted.

Rinoa let out a scream of fury. 'You're such an idiot! You're mad just like the rest of them!'

They're crazy. Can't you see it? Irvine's voice echoed round in her head and she tried to shake it off inwardly. They weren't crazy; they were just…stressed. But what could stress do to people? Blind their vision to reason?

'H-how dare you! You called me a bitch yet I can't begin to phantom what that would make you! You're willing to leave behind the one person you claimed your love for! And for what? To save your own pathetic life! You're nothing but a spoiled bitch, Rinoa. And I hope you burn in hell for it!'

'Fpr Hyne's sake Quistis! Just get over it!'

Selphie tried her luck again. 'Please! Let's just go before someone hears you!'

'Get over what?'

Failed.

'Squall! He has never loved you and he never will, not in the situation we were last in and not in this situation. So stop acting like a love-sick whore and get over him!'

Selphie hovered very close to them now, still feeling the wooden grip of the axe in her hand. Throbbing, breathing, calling…calling…

_Calm it Selphie. _'If you ask me,' she began quietly, 'you're both idiots. Do you remember what happened last time we all argued like this? There was a death.'

A fleeting silence occurred hand in hand with a memory they strived to forget; a smug grin, an explosion, burning, screaming, burnt, disfigurement, Zell…

'That was different. That was then and this now. It's not like there are explosives wracked up to the walls -'

Blink, blink, blink.

Her voice faded out from Selphie's hearing.

Blink, blink, blink.

There was something surfacing in her mind… but it was just out of grasp…

Blink, blink, blink.

Memories stumbled into a hazy clearing and she picked them out one by one.

_Selphie, smash it with your axe…I don't like it! I don't like it watching us… Give me your axe…no…there must be at least two in each room…something's wrong…something's wrong…something's wrong something's wrong SOMETHING'S WRONG!_

And then it blossomed, a memory long ago when she was in Cid's office talking to Squall, not long after the war…

'Hey Squall, what are you doing?' Selphie asked, leaning on the wooden desk.

The commander was pouring over something technical, there were lots of wires everywhere and he was trying to fix them together. They were sticking out the desk, which she thought was very peculiar. Why would there be anything electronic built into a wooden desk?

He looked up at her through clear blue eyes and a ghost of a smile played upon his flawless features.

'It's a secret,' he told her.

Selphie giggled and leaned in to get a better look at what he was doing. 'Aw Squall, we've known each other for so long, we shouldn't keep secrets from each other!'

He gave a little laugh. 'If I told you, you'd be the only one that knew who lives in the Garden.'

Selphie clapped her hands. 'Ooh! It must be a big secret then!'

'Yep. So you really wanna know?'

'Tell me tell me tell me!'

He put down his implement and looked her straight in the eye. His expression caused her smile to dissipate. 'It's a bomb.'

Her hands fell to her sides. 'Wh-what?'

'Once I attach this wire to that one, it will be connected to every single room in Garden, ready to be triggered at any time. Both Galbadia and Trabia have been installed with one as well. It's for emergency purposes and it can be disguised as anything. If the Garden is overrun for some reason and there was nothing we could do, either Cid or myself would come up here and hit this button here-' He tapped beneath the desk. '-and the whole Garden will go up in flames.'

Selphie stood there with her mouth agape.

'We'll probably never have to use it. It's the last of the last of the last resort, you know?' He laughed at her expression. 'Hey, it's okay! We'll probably never have to use it like I said.'

Blink, blink, blink.

_It can be disguised as anything…it's connected to every single room in Garden…if the Garden is overrun…_

Blink, blink, blink.

_Garden will go up in flames..._

_Smash it Selphie… Give me your axe… Something's wrong…_

Blink, blink, blink. The camera's red light flashed incessantly in the corner of her eye.

Selphie screamed, 'THE CAMERA'S ARE THE SELF-DESTRUCT SYSTEM!'

_EVIL IRVINE MWHAHAHA! You knew it was gonna happen ; )_

_The explosivecamera thingwas my original idea but I actually cut it out of the story because I couldn't see how I could fit it in. Yet when I began writing about them remembering Zell I thought that would be the perfect place to slip it in. I'm going to have to reconsider my ending now… REVIEW PLEASE!_

_Oh yeah, and just to pee you off, the final chapter wont be up for a while because I haven't even begun writing it. Sorry! _


	7. Clouded Minds

_Wel, well, well I finished this chapter faster than I expected to! And funnily enough, it's not the last chapter! But the next one will DEFINEATLY be the last! _

_Actually, for some reason this chapter really disgusts me. I think it's one of the goriest yet, I don't know why but I felt really felt sick while writing it. Hmm… anyway, R&R!_

**Chapter seven - Clouded Minds**

'What?'

Selphie dropped her axe; she couldn't believe it! It had been staring her in the face the whole time! Why didn't she remember this before? Why was the self-destruct system set off? Who set it off? Why would people disguise them as cameras? And more importantly, WHEN THE HELLWAS IT GOING TO BLOW?

'Oh crap,' Selphie breathed. 'We have to leave like, NOW!'

Quistis stepped forward and gripped he slender shoulders. 'Calm down. What the hell is going on?'

Selphie swallowed and took a deep breath; she thought she was going to faint. 'I-I remember a-ages ago I-I had a talk w-with Squall,' she explained in a shaky voice. 'He said t-that after the w-war all the Garden's were installed w-with a self-destruction unit. H-he said its linked u-u-p to every single room a-and could be d-disguised as anything. It's set off in Cid's office, u-under the desk. I-I think the cameras are-'

'Holy shit Selphie, why in Hyne's name didn't you tell anyone?' Quistis took a step back.

'I…I…' Her eyes filled up with tears. It was too much…everything was…

'You stupid idiot! Why didn't you say anything?'

Everything was…

'We don't even know when this place is going to blow, if you'd told us earlier - you idiot!'

Was…WRO-

'Now now girls.'

They turned and Selphie's heart stopped. _No…please…no…_

Rinoa stood in front of them with a snide grin on her face. One hand was placed on her hip, and the other held Selphie's blood stained axe.

'Let's play it my way, okay?'

_NO PLEASE NO!_

'Rinoa…what are you doing?' Quistis asked, her voice wavering slightly.

'Quistis sweetie.' Her voice sounded strange, like Irvine's did before… 'Isn't it obvious? I'm taking the lead in the situation.'

'Wh-what? Rinoa why are you doing this? Give Selphie the axe okay? I don't think-'

'Shut up!' she shouted, her perfect face was distorted into a mask of insanity. 'You have a choice, Miss Trepe. A; you that pretty ass of yours down to the first floor and find Squall like you wanted. B; you face my axe.'

Selphie couldn't move. Selphie couldn't say anything. She was completely in shock. _I knew Rinoa hated Quistis but this…this is inhumane._

'I'm not going back down there alone!' Quistis protested aghast. 'It's suicide! Besides, we have no idea when this self-destruct system is going to go off!'

'Y-yeah, Rin, let's leave now, together. You can't send Quisty down there-'

'Oh shut up you immature slut!' Rinoa turned her coffee brown eyes from Selphie back to the instructor. 'You've chosen B then, eh?'

'WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?' Quistis screamed at her.

Rinoa waved the axe's blade in her face. 'Because all you've ever done from day one of mine and Squall's relationship is break us up! If you want him that bad go and get him! But I'm not waiting around for you, and if you don't wanna get him, then you're worthless to me now! You've got until the count of three, slut! If you're still here then you're gonna get an axe in your face!'

Tears streaked down Selphie's face. 'Please…please…d-don't…please…' She was helpless without a weapon.

'One.'

Quistis looked like a rabbit trapped in a cars headlight. Her eyes shifted to the elevator and back to Rinoa's insane grin.

'Two.'

Selphie clung desperately to the last threads of sanity she had left, begging, praying, wishing to wake up from this nightmare. Wishing for time to stop, for something to happen. Anything to stop Rinoa from reaching -

'Three.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Hey Rin stop it!'

'You started it Quisty!'

The group laughed as they watched the girls play fight, splashing water from the fountain up each other. The Quad was bursting with people laughing and chatting. The sun was burning brightly in the aquamarine sky, probably because they were docked in Balamb, which was one of the hottest continents in the world. For that reason, nearly all the students were packed into the open aired Quad, soaking up the sunshine.

The two girls, now drenched in the fountains water, stopped play fighting, hugged and burst out laughing again. Selphie leapt into the fray and wrestled them both at the edge of the fountain, trying to push them in. they squealed and tried to fend her off, laughing hysterically. The brunette lost her ground and slipped off the lip of the water feature, falling head first into the chuckling fountain.

'You guys,' she shouted playfully, splashing water madly at the two, 'are gonna totally pay for that!'

Selphie clutched their wrists and pulled them in with her. They sat together with their arms round each other like that for ages, each soaked in

**Blood**

water. Their-

**Screams**

laughter echoing round the

**Corridor**

Quad, attracting attention and bringing other people into the-

**Killing**

fun.

_What?_

'This is so much fun!' Rinoa giggled and…and…

_what? What's…happening…? Where…what…?_

'Stop it! Don't! STOP IT! RINOA STOP!'

_Screaming…what's happening? I…can't see anything…Quistis? Rinoa?_

Sickening sounds of bones being cracked and flesh being split drifted into Selphie's semi-conscious state and she tried to scream but her voice was lost inside of her somewhere. She could hear Quistis screaming…screaming like Zell had…and once again she was helpless.

Selphie pulled herself together, following a thread of consciousness out of the darkness back into the harsh reality of the situation. She wouldn't let Quistis go like she had Zell! Damnit Selphie snap out of it!

She began fading away again, memories mixing with present -

**Stop it Rinoa!**

STOP IT RINOA

Screaming **laughter**

_Damn it Selphie SNAP OUT OF IT!_

Her green eyes snapped open and she found herself staring up at the ceiling of the corridor. There was a horrible smell, a smell Selphie recognised too clearly. Blood. She could hear panting now, the sound of someone gulping in air rapidly. From the corner of her eye she could see the incessant blinking of the camera, and when she did everything came back to her.

Her arm twitched and Selphie moved and looked to her right.

Rinoa was hunched over, her face distorted and hideous like a gargoyle, her beauty just a shadow of its former self. She clutched the wooden handle of Selphie's axe with both hands, her knuckles white, her hands dripping with crimson liquid. Her clothes were splattered with it, and she reached up absently and touched her face, leaving a dark smear of scarlet across her pale cheek. The axe's head metal surface was lost beneath a layer of the blood, dripping in thick beads off from its blade onto…onto…onto…

Selphie squeezed her eyes shut and gagged. It came up in her mouth and she struggled to her knees, head spinning, and spewed it onto the tiled floor.

The blood oozed in slurping globules from the axe onto the remaints of the instructors body. Her face and chest was a bloody pulp, torn open. The axe had seared thick ridges out of her flesh, crisscrossing and jagged. Quistis' once beautiful face was left featureless. She lay sprawled in a bath of her own blood, which continued flow, increasing the crimson pool around her. It reached Rinoa's boots and encircled them. It seemed to Selphie as if it was Quistis' last futile attempt o reach out to her.

It must have seemed that way to Rinoa too, because she cried out and jumped back, then slipped in the scarlet fluid and fell ungracefully on her ass.

Panting, Selphie suddenly considered making a run for it. But where would she go? Where _could_ she go? To the escape pod? Escape alone? She could leave Rinoa easily now. Quistis had been her friend - she had been Rinoa's friend! She had stuck by them through the second sorceress war and through other heinous trials, yet the bitch had struck her down as if she was nothing but an animal!

Too late for any chance of escape though for Rinoa turned her attention toward the brunette.

She stood up and casually brushed her dark hair behind her shoulders. She lifted the stained axe and pointed it at the kneeling girl, an insane grin spreading across her face. Yet Selphie couldn't help but notice how her hand shook as she gripped the handle.

'Y-you see w-what happens when y-you don't do w-what you're t-told?' she stammered, the grin never faltering. 'So a-are you g-gonna be a good little g-girl for little old me, eh?'

_Am I the only sane one left?_ 'Why?' Selphie looked across to Quistis and salty tears streamed from her eyes. 'WHY DID YOU DO IT?'

Rinoa sighed in false exasperation. She tutted. 'I don't like repeating myself Selphie, you should know that.'

Selphie's head snapped back to Rinoa. 'You're a bitch,' she hissed through gritted teeth. Her voice was brimming with venom. 'You always have been a bitch and you always will be. Everyone thought so. Even Squall saw it in the end and - ah!'

Rinoa had lunged forward and hit her round the head with the hilt of the axe. Selphie fought the stars that danced before her green eyes.

'Shut the hell up bitch!' Rinoa screeched and raised the axe again. 'Now I'm in charge and you're going to do everything I fucking say or else you'll end up like that slut over there, got it?'

Selphie bit her tongue, wiped the fresh tears away with her wrist. 'What do you want?' she growled.

Rinoa gave a hysteric scream of laughter. 'My, my! You're stupid and ugly! Isn't it obvious, idiot? I want you to take me to the escape pod of course!'

'Of course,' Selphie snarled under her breath, 'how silly of me.'

The brown-eyed girl gripped Selphie's arm so hard it left little fingertip bruises, and hurled her to her feet. 'Up!' she shrieked, brandishing the axe again. 'Up! Up!'

Somehow, Selphie found her balance and held her forehead for a moment, which throbbed painfully. _Damn that bitch! _She felt a hard shove on her back and stumbled forward.

'Take me to it!' Rinoa's voice was actually cracking under her insanity. 'And don't try anything…funny.'

Selphie stumbled forward again, thinking her legs were going to collapse at any moment. She was just…too tired. Too tired of everything…of everyone. For the first time in her entire life Selphie wanted to die. She stopped in her tracks and felt the blade of the axe press against her back, a physical warning from Rinoa.

_Yes, yes, do it. I don't care. I want…to…die…now… I want to be with…Zell…Quistis…Irvine…Moeru…Aya…please…I…just…_

'Keep moving!' Rinoa screamed in her ear.

_Why? What's the point? Everyone's gone…you don't deserve to live anyway. I want you to die in this place. Die with the rest of us. _

'Perhaps in whatever comes after death,' Selphie mumbled absently, 'we'll all be friends again, like we used to be. All together with no betrayal or deceit or anger or needless killings. Perhaps death would be better than life right now.'

'Wh-what are you talking about?' The axe pressed more persistently against her back. 'Of course life is better than death. If I died now I would have to see the whore's disgusting face again! Not to mention all the others.'

Selphie sighed, staring at her feet. She was in a dazed state and wondered why she had lost the will to keep alive. Perhaps it was the blow around the head? 'You don't mean that,' she stated in a droning voice. 'You don't mean that at all.'

The axe drew blood and Selphie wished she could feel it, urged the axe to dig a little deeper. She needed the pain. She wanted the pain. Why was she so numb now?

'I don't care about you, I don't care about Squall, I don't care about anyone! I hate all of you! I'm only looking out for number one, you'd do the same!' Rinoa tried to sound persistent but her voice cracked and the soft spot beneath her armour was revealed.

'I would never…never do what you did. I wouldn't do what Irvine did and I wouldn't do what Nida did. Betray the very people I cherish the most.'

Rinoa laughed heinously. 'You wouldn't would you? Where is Irvine then, hm? Didn't think I'd notice? Quistis and I knew one of you wouldn't come back alive. It's just a shame it had to be _you._'

'Shut up.'

'Aw, hit a soft spot, Sehpy? What did you do to him, huh? Kill him with the same axe you killed Natala and Xu? You're just as bad as me; you're just as bad as all of them. You're crazy. You don't think you are, but oh believe me, you are. If you weren't, you wouldn't of killed your boyfriend.'

'Y-you're wrong! He attacked me first…I tried to reason with him ubt…I…I…I'm not! Shut up!'

_Or are you crazy too?_ _Or are you crazy too? Or are you crazy too? _

Irvine's words swam in her head, his crazed eyes still burning beneath his hat. She could still see him! _How could I have done such a thing? Oh Hyne forgive me!_

The axe bit a little deeper and Selphie felt the pain.

'Just show mewhere the pod is and I'll consider sparing your life.'

Selphie thought, I'_m running a race that can't be won. _

_**Sorry Rinoa fans, but I've always thought she was complete and utter bitch from hell. She's the worst heroine in FF history. I do honestly despise her. I hate Irvine as well and I'll kill him off again and again and again until I get bored or forget. Sorry but I have to be honest . **_

_**I thinkthis is something Rinoa would do in a situation like this. If Zell was alive I think he'd react like Selphie and stick with his friends until the end. **_

_**And you knew Rinoa was gonna kill Quistis or Quistis was gonna kill Rinoa. It was a certainty! **_

_**Poor Selphie. I feel for her, I really do. Well…the end is nigh. REVIEW OR FACE MY WRATH:withdraws axe and puts a Rinoa wig on laughing insanely:**_


	8. And Then There Was

_Sorry about the wait…to cut a long story short, I couldn't access my files!_

_Finished! Yay! I enjoyed writing this. I hope you enjoyed reading it too! I hope it sorta scared ya! _

_I would like to thank QueenAdreena, Deadlikeyou, Mog and protektor93 as they have reviewed like, every chapter! Thanks guys :beams:…..thanks you to all my other reviwers as well! Just to know you're reading it makes me happy!_

_Enjoy the crazy ending and feel free to flick through my other stuff! You guys rock! ; )_

_Review one last time please. _

**Chapter 8 - And then there was…**

The sky was a dull metallic grey, running like watery paint from an unused canvas. The sea was a sickening green and churned without rhythm, crashing against the side of the ghost-Garden. There was no life anywhere, not even the normal cry of a gull or the hum of an aeroplane flying overhead.

_Has the whole world disappeared too?_ Selphie mused, but the thought made her feel sick so she turned her attention back to the situation at hand. Rinoa.

The escape pod bloomed in the centre of the open space, the flower of hope. It was for Rinoa anyway. For Selphie, it signified death: the death of Irvine, the death of friendship and now the death of herself. Or perhaps she had died long ago? It seemed to her that she was merely an empty shell; her mind and soul had discarded her body and now she was as bad as all of them. Hard-hearted and selfish. Who cared if she died? Who was left to care anyway?

'This is it?' Rinoa was saying. Her left hand was resting lightly on her hip; the other was twirling the axe around carelessly, making the blood splatter lightly onto the concrete floor.

_So near… _

'Hm…' She laughed abruptly. A harsh sound, as if it had sprung from the mouth of the demon of darkness himself. 'It was big enough to fit all of us in after all!'

Selphie gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. She was angry suddenly - no furious! She was furious with Rinoa, with Irvine, with Zell, Xu, Quistis, Cid, Nida, Moeru, Natala and most of all, she was furious with herself. If she had been more spontaneous, if she hadn't of been so damn blind to it all! All the hidden treachery that could lie in people's hearts! Perhaps…perhaps…

_Perhaps things might have been different._

'Never mind,' Rinoa yawned briskly, as if she was answering Selphie's thoughts. 'I suppose I better take care of you befo-'

Selphie lunged at the raven-haired girl before she could advance on her first. Rinoa tumbled backwards with a cry of alarm. The image of the axe skidding across the floor reflected in Selphie's green eyes.

She scrambled to her knees clumsily and dived forward, hand outstretched, fingers splayed.

A hand gripped her ankle and she screamed in frustration. Rinoa pulled her backwards and Selphie's chin hit the concrete hard, blood splattering its grey surface. The sorceress crawled over the brunette but Selphie was too fast, and had seized a handful of Rinoa's beautiful locks and was pulling as hard as she could.

Rinoa ground her teeth and moaned through them as a clump came out, yet she did not falter and smashed her elbow into Selphie's face. The seventeen year olds head snapped back and stars danced before her vision as she fell to the floor.

_No! _

She got up and leapt on to the other girl who had just recovered and was crawling toward the only weapon. She smashed Rinoa's face on the concrete floor and the girl spluttered on her own blood. They lay there, growling like animals, arms reaching, reaching for the axe that sat there just out of reach like a spectator to a game. The two girl's fingertips just brushed the handle and it turned a bit.

But Rinoa gained a sudden advantage by using the foot that wasn't imbedded underneath Selphie's weight and pushed herself forward, gripping the axe firmly and howling in triumph.

Selphie, realising the sudden jeopardy of the situation, immediately sprung out of Rinoa's reach and absently wiped blood from her face. Whether it was hers or Rinoa's she wasn't sure.

She backed up until she felt the cool rail press against her back. She looked over the side at the ocean, thought she saw Irvine's eyes burning from its depths and quickly snapped her head back. He could hear his insane laughter, beckoning, beckoning for her to join him.

_You deserve this fate_, she could hear him hiss, _you can join me now, my love._

Rinoa had gotten to her feet and was swaying on the spot like a zombie, blood oozing down her face. She looked at the axe and laughed slightly.

'N-now…I have…t-the a-axe,' she stated, grinning a hideous grin.

She took a step toward the girl and raised the axe. 'You see? You see what happens if you don't cooperate? I was going to give you a quick death, Sephy. But now…now I'm going to hack every single one of your limbs off as slowly as possible - and make you witness it.' She laughed manically and took another step forward.

Selphie felt despair wash over her. She had been so close! So close to winning! Winning…? Was it all just one big stupid game to her? Oh Hyne she thought she had been safe. Everything…everything was gone! Selphie had trusted them, loved them, cared for them and this was how it ended between them all?

_I don't care! I don't care… let it be quick, oh Hyne, let it be quick. _

She looked up into Rinoa's eyes, clouded with insanity and as the axe whistled down through the air she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact.

_Bang_

Her green eyes shot open and she looked up at Rinoa. She was still glaring down her, the insane grin still pasted on her face, the blood still oozing like red tears down her cheeks. Yet her eyes were not focussed. The axe fell from her grip and clattered to the floor and Rinoa fell forward on top of Selphie, to reveal a man dressed all in black standing directly behind her, gun raised and still smoking slightly.

Squall.

Selphie pushed the dead body off her roughly and quickly reached for the axe. She realised abruptly that she felt quite dizzy, and gasped for breathe as she heaved herself up, using the rail as support.

Squall looked no different. His eyes were the same cool blue, his expression unreadable and his body poised in a relaxed manner. But that's what made him so dangerous; he was unpredictable.

'Are you going to kill me with that axe, Selphie?' he asked in a robotic tone. His crystal eyes were locked with hers. He had not lowered the gun and now it was aimed at her.

Selphie spat up blood before answering, 'I don't want to kill anymore. Please. Just…please…'

'Then why are you still gripping it so tightly?'

'I don't know…' she sobbed and shook her head after thinking. 'To defend myself, if you attack me first.'

'An axe is hardly a match for a gun,' he relied coolly.

Selphie wanted to laugh but didn't think it was possible. 'You'd be surprised.'

He inclined his head, his eyes never leaving hers. 'Throw it overboard, Selphie. You wont be needing it where _you're_ going.'

_This axe has never failed me_, she thought, _but this is different. Not even I can avoid a gunshot, especially when the bullet is being shot from Squall. I…I don't need it. It has been my greatest woe and greatest friend. But he's right…thank you._

She turned methodically to the rail, her back to Squall, and flung it over the side. It clanged against the Garden's ornate outer walls as it descended then disappeared beneath the waves. Selphie felt nothing.

The brunette turned and jumped. Squall stood directly in front of her, gun pointed in her face. She closed her eyes. Now that death was inches from her face, she could hardly think.

_Fine._

And then,'Come on.'

Selphie looked at him again. Now he was closer she could see how tired he looked. His face was drawn and pale. He had blood splattered up his white shirt. He stared at her wearily and that's when she noticed…he had lowered the gun.

'Come on,' he repeated. 'Let's go. We don't have much time.'

'What?'

'Let's go!' he shouted. 'Come on! Do you want to be left here?'

Her stomach knotted at the thought. 'No.'

He ran over to the escape pod and hit a few buttons next to the door. It hissed open and he looked at her over his shoulder. 'We'll only just make it,' he said quietly. Then disappeared within the belly of the machine.

Selphie was in a daze. Was she dead yet? She touched her stomach gently. _No…no…!_

_I'm alive!_

_Must live…must survive…must_ escape….

She ran to the escape pod and dived inside it. At the front, Squall battered some code into the direction panel. The door shut behind her but she continued to lie on the floor. Her surroundings quivered and hummed loudly as the thing departed from the ground.

Selphie crawled up and kneeled on one the seats next to the window. They were high above the Garden now. She could see Rinoa's dead body sprawled out on the open area. She could see the bodies littering the Quad. Yet it was all right…she wasn't in there with them.

'I'm alive…' she whispered in disbelief. 'I actually…survived.'

Escape pods weren't designed to fly or travel very far, so it quickly came to a stop some distance from Balamb garden and bobbed on the surface of the ocean. Selphie turned away from the window, vividly imagining Irvine throwing his bloated corpse against it, clenching the blood soaked axe in his fist.

She shuddered.

Squall came and sat in the chair opposite her. 'There's not much we can do until we reach land.'

And finally Selphie got to ask the question she had so longed to ask the whole time: 'Why?' Selphie asked. 'Why?'

He looked at her strangely and leaned back. 'After the second sorceress war…Balamb Garden's success fluctuated immensely. We should know, right? We were always being called on missions.'

Selphie nodded. It had been constant and tiring. Not to mention the fact she had had a teaching position thrown onto her occasionally; the sudden surge in people wanting to join SeeD was overwhelming and they didn't have enough staff to cope.

'Well, as you can imagine, we were raking in the money and a golden reputation,' Squall continued, staring blankly at the ceiling. 'And of course, we had become the strongest Garden in the world; we were a force to be reckoned with. The unions of the continents began to become suspicious and paranoid. We could easily take over there pathetic forces, right?'

Selphie nodded again.

'And it wasn't just them. Did you ever wonder what happened to Galbadia Garden?'

Selphie had never really thought about it before. 'To be honest, I didn't really care much what happened to them after…everything.'

A ghost of a smile flickered over Squall's lips. 'Neither did anyone else, and business for them began to diminish. Who wants to higher SeeDs that had fought against them all in the war? No one.'

'So what do _we_ have to do with this?'

'The unions and Galbadia Garden united to get rid of Balamb. For the unions, it meant no more worry about us invading. For Galbadia, it meant business would soar with us gone. So they managed to get some agents into Balamb and gassed the Garden out one night about…six months ago, while we slept. Knocked us all out good, and no one anticipated it. Then they set up the cameras; though they were hidden at first. We had no idea when we awoke.' Squall sighed and rubbed his face.

'Why didn't they just wipe us all out?'

'They thought of that but decided after extensive research that we were too strong and organised. They set up the cameras to study us, observe our techniques, find the soft spot beneath our armour if you will.'

'And did they?'

'Of course.'

'What was it?'

Squall laughed a little. 'Each other.'

Selphie swallowed and fiddled with her SeeD uniform. It was all so obvious now. _Damn them bastards…_

'They gassed us out again, hijacked garden and transported it…wherever we are now, and left us.' There was an awkward pause until Squall added slowly, 'I guess Cid set the self-destruct system off when he realised the union's plan had worked and we were killing each other off. I suspect the gas had something in it as well.'

'Something in it to drive us insane?' Selphie sniffed. 'I feel fine though. And you seem okay.'

Squall said nothing and it made her nervous.

Selphie was suddenly knocked off her chair as a massive explosion rocked the escape pod. An ear-splitting boom vibrated through the air and Selphie's scream was lost within its fiery voice. A series of smaller explosion took place and she thought the pod would fall apart. She could hear tremendous tidal waves consuming the craft and she begged it was waterproof.

It was over as suddenly as it started. The couple found themselves sprawled at incredible angles on the hard floor with bits and pieces scattered around them.

Selphie groaned and scrambled to her feet. She peered out the window to see the most tremendous sight she had ever witnessed. Balamb Garden - her home, her school, her life - was on flames and on its side, slowly sinking down into the murky depths of the ocean. Its lights flickered and extinguished altogether. Massive holes created by the bombs coughed up great plumes of black smoke as the sea licked at its once elegant structure.

Squall appeared next to her. 'Looks like the self destruct system went off finally.'

Selphie found herself speechless. It was a terrifyingly overwhelming sight to behold, to see something so magnificent being consumed by a great nothing.

_Everyone…got a burial at least…_ She found herself saddened by this. Everyone she ever knew and loved were on that craft…and now they were gone. All gone. Lost beneath the ocean.

Balamb Garden disappeared from view completely.

She turned back, suddenly exhausted. Squall was watching her carefully from across the pod.

'Hey Squall,' she said, after having a sudden afterthought. 'How did you know all that? What you just told me.'

Squall smiled and his eyes narrowed. 'Cid told me.'

'Cid? But he killed himself.'

Squall laughed and withdrew his gun, the same gun he killed Cid with, the same gun he'd kill Selphie and himself with. 'Not exactly.'

And as Selphie stared dumbly into the barrel of the gun, she wondered if the gas had driven her insane too, but concluded that it didn't really matter because death had brought her nothing _but_ insanity. Perhaps in the next life, they would be reunited once again. _I'd like that…_

Squall barely saw Selphie's wistful smile as he pulled the trigger and pushed her from the darkness that shrouded her into the light Selphie had strived so hard to reach.

_**FIN**_

_If you remember, at the beginning Selphie had a dream. This is what the images in her dream meant (courtesy to 'The Language Of Dreams'.)_

_**Empty purse**: indicates loss of loved one and the security that the relationship offered._

_**Wine glass filling with blood**: cups stand for truth and love; the fact it's filled with blood indicates the death of those things._

_**Enlarged shadow trying to grasp her**: a shadow represents a lack of understanding of other people, or lack of self-knowledge. It shows large parts of her that she doesn't recognise trying to be acknowledged. _

_Review please! Thanks for reading._

_Crimson Cobwebs_

_xxxx_


End file.
